Earring clips

ABSTRACT

976,341. Clip fastenings. J. A. W. P. VAN BERGEN. June 29, 1962 [June 29, 1961], No. 23566/61. Heading E2B. An ear ornament clip comprises a first clip member adapted to be pressed against one side of the lobe of an ear, a second clip member in the form of an arm 3 pivoted at one end to the first clip member by interengaging pivotally connected parts of the two members, said arm at its other and free end being adapted to be pressed against the other side of the ear lobe, means to maintain the two clip members frictionally in the ear-lobe engaging relationship and comprising as part of one of the members a bifurcation 7, 8 comprising part of the pivotal connection and provided as part of the other clip member resilient parts 5, 6 adapted to mate frictionally between the limbs of the bifurcation and separated from the pivot axis of the pivotal connection. In the construction shown the first clip member comprises a shallow dished part 2 to which is attached an arm 4 which carries the parts 5, 6 and lugs 9, 10 of which are engaged by the limbs 7, 8 of the bifurcation. The outer curved surface of the dished part 2 engages one side of the wearer&#39;s ear when the clip is in use and carries an ornamental button. The parts 5, 6 are outwardly splayed and the outer surface of each part 5, 6 is curved to produce a line engagement between the part and the limbs 7, 8, the frictional engagement between the parts 5, 6 and the limbs 7, 8 due to the outward splaying being such that the two clip members will retain any angular relation to which they are set. The lugs 9, 10 are either at the junction of two parts of the arm 4 as shown or intermediate the length of the portion of the arm secured to the dished part 2. The lugs 9, 10 are formed with holes which are engaged by dimples in the limbs 7, 8 to form the pivoted connection between the clip members.

March 1, 1966 FIG. 11

FIG. 12

INVENTOR Johannes A.W.F? vcn Bergen BY W ATTORNEYS United States Patent3,237,266 EARRING CLIPS Johannes A. W. P. van Bergen, 27 Dancer Road,Fulham, London, England Filed June 25, 1962, Ser. No. 204,725 Claimspriority, application Great Britain, June 29, 1961,

6 Claims. (Cl. 24-248) This invention relates to earring clips.

Earring clips in common use frequently comprise a pair of members whichsnap together under pressure, and this clip action is utilized to retainthe clip on the wearers ear. The spring pressure employed is often quitestrong in order to retain the parts in the requisite position, but thespring pressure is transferred to the wearers ear, which can beextremely uncomfortable, and the present invention aims to provide anearring clip which will prove more comfortable in use.

According to the present invention an earring clip comprises a pair ofpivoted clip parts one of which carries a pair of resilient grippingarms which engage the other part to retain it in any of a plurality ofoperative angular positions.

Thus the position of the arms or parts attached thereto relative to eachother may be adjusted to fit each side of the wearers ear so that theearring carried by the clip will be held in position but the pressure onthe Wearers ear lobe will not be sufficient to cause discomfort.

Preferably the resilient gripping arms are biased away from each otherand they may conveniently be provided in the form of a U or V-shapedmember, to the lower part of which can be secured the ornamental part ofthe earring.

The resilient gripping arms may be arranged to engage a channel sectionportion formed on the other clip part, and preferably the outer surfacesof the arms of the U- or V-shaped member are in frictional contact withthe inner side walls of the channel section portion on the other clippart and act to retain the clip parts in their relative angularpositions.

In this arrangement one side edge of each of the arms of the U- orV-shaped member may be arranged adjacent the inner surface of the baseof the channel section portion of the other clip part, when the clip isin use.

Each of the clip parts may carry a series of co-operating inter-engagingserrations which will tend to hold the clip parts in their relativeangular positions and will aid the friction effect of the gripping arms.

In any case each of the clip parts is preferably formed with indentedpressed-out portions, which cooperate between the two parts to provide ahinge about which one part may pivot in relation to the other.

The invention may be performed in various ways, but one specificembodiment with alternative variations thereon will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 illustrate a side elevation, an end elevation and aplan view of an earring clip according to the invention,

FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 show respectively a side elevation, an end elevationand a plan view of one of the clip parts utilized in the arrangementshown in FIG- URES 1, 2 and 3,

FIGURES 7, 8 and 9 illustrate respectively a side elevation and an endelevation and a plan View of an alternative clip part, and

FIGURES 10, 11 and 12 illustrate respectively a side elevation, an endelevation and a plan view of a further alternative clip part which couldbe used with the arrangement shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3.

In the arrangement shown in FIGURES 1 to 6, a first clip part 1comprises a substantially U-shaped member 2 having a pair of limbs 3 and4 which respectively form a pair of resilient gripping arms which arebiased away from each other, and which are splayed slightly outwardly asis shown more clearly in FIGURE 5. The horizontal cross-piece 5 of thispart is formed with a soldering tag 6 which is secured to a dishedmember 7 to which can be attached the decorative part of the earringwith which the clip is to be used. The outer curved surface of thedished part 7 indicated at 8, engages the wearers ear when the clip isin use.

A second clip part indicated generally at 11 comprises an ear piece 12,the surface 13 of which engages the wearers car when the clip is in use.A channel section .portion 14 provides a pair of side members 15 betweenwhich the gripping arms 3 and 4 extend, and both the gripping arms andthese side members are formed with inwardly directed pressed out-parts16 which, when the first and second clip parts are assembled click intoengagement and provide a hinge about which relative movement between theparts may take place.

The outer surface of each of the resilient gripping arms 3 and 4 iscurved as is clearly shown in FIGURE 6, so that there is line engagementbetween the gripping ar-ms 3 and 4 and the side members 15, thefrictional engagement between these parts due to the outward bias of thearms 3 and 4 being such that the parts will retain their relativeangular positions.

The inter-engaging pressed-out parts 16 may be provided with a series ofradially extending serrations as shown at 17 on FIGURE 4 which will notonly provide extra grip between the moving parts, but will retain thetwo parts in a plurality of relative angular positions. As theserrations are quite small the number of positions is large so thatalthough the relative angular positions of the two parts are notinfinitely variable as they are when the serrations are omitted, thereis still a very large number of positions which can be used.

The parts of the clip may be made from any suitable material, but it hasbeen found that beryllium copper gives good results and the resilientgripping arms 3 and I 4 formed by the U-shaped portion 2 retain theirresilience if made from this material.

. In the alternative arrangement shown in FIGURES 7, 8 and 9 the firstclip part 1 consists of two portions 20, 21 which are approximatelynormal to one another. The portion 20 has a U-shaped part 22 whichprovides a pair of resilient gripping arms 23, 24, which will engagewith the inner surfaces of the members 15 on the second part 11, and aswill be seen from FIGURE 9 these are splayed outwardly from one another.The portion 21 is formed with a pair of upstanding lugs 26, 27, each ofwhich is formed with an inwardly directed pressed-out portion 28, toprovide a hinge as set forth above. As will be seen from FIGURE 8 theouter surfaces of the arms 23, 24, are curved to again provide linecontact as mentioned with reference to the arrangement shown in FIGURES4, 5 and 6. It will be seen that the length of the arms 23, 24, whichprovide the frictional contact with the second part 11, can be greaterthan that shown in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 without increasing the height ofthe clip, as one side edge of each of the arms 23 and 24 is adjacent theinner surface of the base of the channel section portion 14 on thesecond clip part when the parts are in their operative positions.

In the final alternative arrangement shown in FIG- URES 10, 11 and 12,the first clip part is somewhat similar to that illustrated in FIGURES7, 8 and 9, and similar reference numerals are used, but the lugs 26 and27 are replaced by fillets 30, each of which is formed with an inwardlydirected pressed-out portion 31. This arrangement provides a first clippart which is somewhat stronger than that shown in FIGURES 7, 8 and 9,as the fillets will prevent any tendency for the portion 20 to bend inrelation to portion 21.

In use the earring clip is applied with a clip part on either side ofthe wearers ear lobe. The clip parts are now squeezed together with thesurfaces 8 and 13 in contact with the wearers ear to a comfortableposition to hold the earring in place, and they will retain thisposition due to the gripping action between the parts. The pressure uponthe wearers ear is thus dependent upon the pressure which the wearerapplies, and a comfortable fitting may be arrived at in which theearring will be held in place, but the clip will not cause unnecessaryphysical discomfort due to excessive squeezing of the ear lobe.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States is:

1. An ear ornament clip comprising a first clip part having twostrip-like portions joined together in angular relationship, a pair ofresilient gripping arms, said arms being connected to opposite edges ofone of said striplike portions, each of said arms having a substantialextension in the same direction as, but spaced apart from, the extensionof the other of said strip-like portions, one of said strip-likeportions having a surface adapted for attachment thereto of an earornament, said ear ornament clip further comprising a second clip parthaving near an extremity thereof an ear engagement surface and havingnear the opposite extremity thereof a channel-shaped portion, saidchannel-shaped portion having two spaced apart side members extendingsubstantially in a normal direction with respect to such ear engagementsurface in frictional engagement with said gripping arms, said earornament clip still further comprising means for pivotally coupling saidside members of said second clip part to said first clip part on an axisintermediate said gripping arms and the extremity of said otherstrip-like portion remote from said gripping arms, said axis passingthrough said side members adjacent the ends thereof.

2. An ear ornament clip according to claim 1 wherein the ends of saidgripping arms remote from the striplike portion to which said arms areconnected are splayed outwardly from each other to exert spring forcesagainst the mating side members of said second clip part.

3. An ear ornament clip according to claim 1 wherein said pivotalcoupling means comprise a pair of upstanding lugs mounted one on each oftwo opposite edges of said other portion of said first clip part, eachof said lugs having an indented portion, and a corresponding indentedportion on each of said side members of said second clip part.

4. An ear ornament clip according to claim 1 Wherein said pivotalcoupling means comprise a pair of fillets disposed one on each of twoopposite edges of said first clip part at the intersection of the twoportions thereof, each of said fillets having an indented portion, and acorresponding indented portion on each of said side members of saidsecond clip part.

5. An ear ornament clip comprising a first clip part having twostrip-like portions joined together in angular relationship, a pair ofresilient gripping arms, said arms being connected to opposite edges ofone of said strip-like portions, each of said arms extending insubstantially the same direction as, but spaced apart from, theextension of the other of said strip-like portions, said ear ornamentclip further comprising a second clip part having near one extremitythereof a channel-shaped portion, said channel-shaped portion having twospaced apart side members extending in a substantially normal directionfrom said second clip part and frictionally engaging said gripping arms,said ear ornament clip further comprising means for pivotally couplingsaid side members of said second clip part to said first clip part on anaxis intermediate the location of said gripping arms and the extremityof said other strip-like portion remote from said gripping arms, one ofsaid clip parts being adapted to support an ornament and the other ofsaid clip parts having an ear engagement surface.

6. An ear ornament clip according to claim 5 wherein said coupling meansinclude a pair of lugs mounted one on each of two opposite edges of saidfirst clip part intermediate the point of connection of said grippingarms and the remote extremity of said other strip-like portion, each ofsaid lugs having a hinge point and each of said side members of saidsecond clip part having a corresponding hinge point, said hinge pointsbeing cooperatively engageable for relative pivotal movement of saidfirst and second clip parts.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 870,330 11/1907Wilde 6314 2,303,267 11/1942 Goodwin 6314 2,947,054 8/ 1960 Adams 24-248FOREIGN PATENTS 739,789 11/1955 Great Britain.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner, DONLEY I. STOCKING, Examiner,

1. AN EAR ORNAMENT CLIP COMPRISING A FIRST A CLIP PART HAVING TWOSTRIP-LIKE PORTIONS JOINED TOGETHER IN ANGULAR RELATIONSHIP, A PAIR OFRESILIENT GRIPPING ARMS, SAID ARMS BEING CONNECTED TO OPPOSITE EDGES OFONE OF SAID STRIPLIKE PORTIONS , EACH OF SAID ARM HAVING A SUBSTANTIALEXTHE EXTENSION OF THE OTHER OF SAID STRIP-LIKE PORTIONS, THE EXTENSIONOF THE OTEH OF SAID STRIP-LIKE PORTIONS, ONE OF SAID STRIP-LIKE PORTIONSHAVING A SURFACE ADAPTED FOR ATTACHMENT THERETO OF AN EAR ORNAMENT, SAIDEAR ORNAMENT CLIP FURTHER COMPRISING A SECOND CLIP PART HAVING NEAR ANEXTREMITY THEREOF AN EAR ENGAGEMENT SURFACE AND HAVING NEAR THE OPPOSITEEXTREMITY THEREOF A CHANNEL-SHAPED PORTION, SAID CHANNEL-SHAPED PORTIONHAVING TWO SPACED APART SIDE MEMBERS EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY IN A NORMALDIRECTION WITH RESPECT TO SUCH EAR ENGAGEMENT SURFACE IN FRICTIONALENGAGEMENT WITH SAID GRIPPING ARMS, SAID EAR ORNAMENT CLIP STILL FURTHERCOMPRISING MEANS FOR PIVOTALLY COUPLING SAID SIDE MEMBERS OF SAID SECONDCLIP PART TO SAID FIRST CLIP ON AN AXIS INTERMEDIATE SAID GRIPPING ARMSAND THE EXTREMITY OF SAID OTHER STRIP-LIKE PORTION REMOTE FROM SAIDGRIPPING ARMS, SAID AXIS PASSING THROUGH SAID MEMBERS ADJACENT THE ENDSTHEREOF.